


No Accounting for Taste

by Black_Rose_Authoress



Series: Pleasantville [2]
Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, Genderbending, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-02
Updated: 2010-02-02
Packaged: 2018-02-26 08:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2644796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Black_Rose_Authoress/pseuds/Black_Rose_Authoress
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mattie has been acting weird, so Ally decides that as her heroic older sister, it's her job to find out what's going on. Mattie is less than pleased. Prequel to 'And It's Supposed to be the Day of Love'</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Accounting for Taste

Arthur oftentimes wondered what in the world had come over him this past year. He'd always prided himself on being logical, reasonable, responsible, level-headed… He'd been named student council president for the past three years in a row, he already had a full ride to Oxford, he was someday going to be a successful businessman, just like his father. He had his entire life planned out.

Or—he had… Until  _she_ had transferred in last year and completely turned his world upside down.

"Hey, Arthur, I need a boost. I can't see her anymore."

"I am not giving you a boost. This is stupid." He didn't even turn toward her, knowing that she was most likely looking over her shoulder at him and pouting, her hands on her hips, her lower lip stuck out adorably. "It's not like Mattea's doing anything wrong. She's just watching a tennis match."

Which he'd rather be watching right now. Anything would be better than standing behind the football bleachers and attempting to spy on Al's little sister. He wasn't even sure why Al had insisted that he come with her. He'd been in the library, working on a research paper, when she'd suddenly burst in, grabbed his arm, and tugged him outside while rambling on about Mattie and tennis and how it was the perfect opportunity to test out her new binoculars…

And now they were standing under the bleachers, him still attempting to figure out what had just happened while she balanced on top of an overturned bucket and peered between the bleachers in an attempt to spy her sister.

"I need to go back and work on my paper, Al."

She waved her arm at him dismissively and attempted to see by balancing on her tiptoes. Arthur reflexively took a step closer, ready to catch her if she suddenly toppled over. Which looked quite possible right now…

"You'll get that paper done weeks earlier than anybody else anyway, Artie. You're such a goody-goody." She spun around suddenly, resting her binoculars against her hip as she glared down at him. "Mattie's never been a fan of tennis, Artie. Just for this past semester. She's been watching it every night on TV, she goes to every match…" She turned and glared irritably toward the courts. "Something's fishy about this! And as Mattie's older sister, I demand to know what's going on!"

Arthur sighed and leaned back against the wire fence behind him. Remind him why he was friends with this girl? He really didn't blame Mattea for trying to keep her personal life a secret from her overenthusiastic, nosy twin. Poor girl probably just wanted to keep something for herself.

Still, he knew that telling Al so would just be a waste of air. "If you're so desperate to find out, then why don't you just go over and ask to play? It's open to anybody who wants to join. At least then you'll be close enough to actually see her."

For a moment, she frowned and seemed to think about it, glancing back toward the courts with a pensive expression. Then she grinned brightly and held up her hand in a pose that vaguely reminded him of a hero in a comic strip declaring his intentions to go vanquish some evil foe. "Perfect plan, Artie!" She jumped down, her uniform's skirt flying up slightly at the sudden motion. Arthur immediately averted his eyes, fighting the blush that threatened to cover his face. Damn it. Why did he have to blush so easily? It was embarrassing.

Thankfully, Al wasn't the type of person to notice things unless they were shoved right under her nose. And not even then, sometimes. She instead grabbed his hand, tugging him after her toward the tennis courts, her blonde ponytail almost smacking him in the face as she turned to hurry him up.

He sighed and forced himself to run faster, fighting to keep up with her longer strides. Why in the world had his brain chosen  _her_ as the person that he'd fall in love with?

~.~.~

Al loved her sister. Of course she did. Okay, so sometimes she kind of forgot that she existed, but that wasn't her fault! Mattie was just so shy and quiet that it was easy to forget her. After all, it was easy to forget that there was another person with you if they weren't constantly complaining like Artie. Still, just because her sister occasionally slipped her mind didn't mean that she didn't love her.

And if something was up with Mattie, then she was going to find out what it was, no matter what! Because that's what big sisters were for! To protect their little sisters!

She ran across the track, not bothering to actually follow the path… Why should she? Everybody knew that the shortest distance between two points was a straight line. Artie was complaining behind her about how she wasn't supposed to run on the grass, but that was nothing new. He loved to complain about things that she did.

"Hey!" She slid to a stop, almost causing Arthur to run into her, in front of a group of teachers that had been standing and conversing amongst themselves.

Who all immediately flashed her dirty looks in a disturbingly synchronized motion.

Dude, creepy. They were like robots.

The oldest, who vaguely resembled a wolverine, scowled down at her unhappily and snorted while wrinkling her nose as if smelling something unpleasant. "Yes, Miss Jones?"

"Hey!" She replied, grinning up at her as brightly as possible. She heard Arthur snort behind her. He sounded like the creepy robot lady… And this was why she told him that he needed to stop paying so much attention in school. He was going to end up even more of a stick in the mud than he already was. "I was wondering if I could play too. Like, play against whoever wins this match?" She glanced toward the court, wondering who exactly  _was_ playing.

One was a girl that she didn't recognize, who looked as if she were only a few steps from collapsing. The other, however, was Gill.

The albino girl was moving with incredible grace, a cocky smile stretched over her face as she brought her racket up to spike the tennis ball into her opponent's court. The girl just barely managed to hit it back, almost falling over at the sudden movement.

Gill's best friends, Francis and Antonio, were standing outside of the courts, cheering at the top of their lungs and generally annoying all of the adults around them… Although Francis would pause every so often to flirt with the girl who was standing beside him and looked as if she didn't mind his advances at all.

Arthur tugged on her arm, distracting her attention back to him. He actually looked a little nervous. "Uh, Al, you sure about this? You do know that Gill is the state champion in tennis."

Yes, she was aware of that. Which was making her hesitate slightly.

But then she glanced toward the crowd and noticed her little sister, standing a little ways away from everybody else, watching the match with rapt attention. Her eyes were following every movement that Gill made as she drew her arm back again and swung with a powerful arc, smashing the ball back too fast for the other girl to return the serve.

"And match!"

Gill immediately laughed, throwing her arms into the air with a 'whoop' and then rushing off the court to Antonio and Francis, who both threw their arms around her shoulders.

"Of course I'm sure!" Ally hurriedly exclaimed, tugging slightly nervously on the sleeve of her bomber jacket. Her favourite jacket, which she wore almost every day. It had belonged to her dad. He'd given it to her right before he went off on what turned out to be his final mission. The final mission that had left her mom all alone with her and Mattie after their dad's plane was shot down and he had disappeared.

Which was why she had to take care of Mattie. Just like her dad would have wanted her to! And to do that, she had to discover why her sister was acting so oddly! And to do that, she was going to play this match against Gillian!

"Here." She slipped the jacket from her shoulders and tossed it to Arthur, who caught it out of reflex, surprised by the sudden action. "Hold this."

Arthur stared at the jacket, a little surprised that she'd handed the object to him, but then he clutched it against his chest and watched as she stomped up to the loser and demanded her racket.

Really, the girl was a complete idiot. He sighed and glanced toward where Mattie was standing by herself. She seemed to have frozen in shock at the sudden transpiring, her mouth open in what could only be described as horror as she watched her sister stomp onto the court and stare at the albino girl challengingly. Gill hadn't even noticed yet, but she probably would in a few seconds.

Oh…

_Oh…_

He glanced down at the jacket and then toward its owner, suddenly realizing just why Mattie had probably been out here. Shit…He'd just made things worse, hadn't he?

~.~.~

"That was amazing, Gill!"

"Magnifique, Gillian. I think that poor girl is going to need some comforting after such a thorough defeat." A pair of arms wrapped around the girl's shoulders from either side, crushing her in between the warm, familiar bodies of her friends.

She grinned up at them, flicking her head so her hair would smack them both in the face. "Of course it was awesome! What else would it be?"

Francis's grin widened and he gave a playful tug on one of her curls, chuckling as he shook his head slightly. "Oui, oui, of course, mon cheri. It could be nothing less than 'awesome'. Right, Antoine?" His gaze flickered over to their other friend, whose attention had been caught by another occupant of the crowd. An occupant who was scowling toward Gill's younger brother, Ludwig, with a sour expression and running her fingers through her hair distractedly. Gill also noticed and grinned mischievously at Francis.

"Toni's getting hot and bothered by the other Vargas girl, eh?" she teased, rewarded as he jumped in surprise at being caught staring. "Come on, what are you waiting for? It's obvious that she's just playing hard to get."

He flushed slightly, his attention still caught by the girl who seemed to be attempting to set Ludwig on fire telepathically. "Lovina is…difficult."

Both friends snorted at that. "Really? Is that what they're calling it nowadays?"

Francis sighed and shook his head slightly. "Ah, Antoine. Why don't you just follow my advice?"

"Because your advice would end up getting me arrested." Antonio glared up at him. "Or at the very least, with a restraining order."

Gill grinned, about to retort, when she was suddenly interrupted by a large hand grabbing her wrist and pulling her away from her friends. She almost yelped in surprise, but then easily recognized the hand and instead smirked upwards—quite far upwards—at her younger brother. "Awesome, right, Ludwig? Admit it, your big sister is the most awesome person ever."

He sighed, rolling his eyes slightly, but removed his hand from her wrist and set it on her shoulder in his attempt at a congratulatory pat. "Good job, although I don't see how it was much of a contest. She wasn't…" He was interrupted though, by a sudden body which threw itself at Gill and wrapped around her like a leech, almost spinning her around from the sudden force.

"Ve~ Gill was so good! Can you teach me how to play tennis like that?"

Gill laughed and hugged the smaller girl affectionately. "Of course, Feli. Maybe then I'll have somebody who can actually present a challenge, since Ludwig couldn't play tennis if his life depended on it."

Ludwig cleared his throat disapprovingly at the remark, eyeing the hyperactive Italian with what was a rather pathetic attempt at disinterest. Really, Gill thought, as Feliciana let go of her and immediately attached to Ludwig, tugging on his arm and bouncing up and down excitedly in front of him as she rambled on about how she was going to learn to play tennis, her brother really needed to quit over thinking shit and just  _ask_ the poor girl on a real date. It was obvious that they were crazy about each other.

"Gillian Beilschmidt?"

She turned, startled by the sudden call from the announcer. That had been her last scheduled match of the day…

She was more startled to see Ally Jones standing on the tennis court, flashing her a determined grin as she swung her racket back and forth in practice swings.

"We have another contender! Miss Allison Jones has challenged Gillian Beilschmidt to a match. Do you accept, Miss Beilschmidt?"

"Gill, you've already played three matches today. You're starting to get tir—" Ludwig started to advise her. Even if it wasn't immediately apparent to everyone else, he knew his sister well enough to know when she was starting to tire.

He also happened to know that she never backed down from a challenge. She was already halfway to the court, a wide cocky grin stretched over her cheeks. "Of course I accept!"

Why did he even bother? He sighed and glanced toward Feliciana, who was still attached to his arm. "Do you want to wait and watch her match?"

She grinned brightly and nodded immediately. "Ve~ of course, Ludwig!"

He sighed and settled back in his seat, Feliciana immediately taking the opportunity to plop onto his lap and attach to his neck.

If anyone had been paying attention, they would have seen Ludwig turn a shade of red that could have rivaled the tomatoes that Antonio was so fond of.

~.~.~

Today was supposed to have been the day. Today was supposed to have been the day that she finally stopped being Ally's invisible little sister who couldn't even work up the nerve to talk to her crush. She'd planned it entirely through. She'd practiced with note cards in front of her dog, Kumajiro…not that he'd been very helpful, as he'd just stared up at her the entire time as if trying to figure out who she was. She'd even practiced her kissing with her…um…pillow. Not that she was expecting that they'd kiss, but she didn't want to be taken off guard and show off that she'd never kissed before if things went faster than she was expecting.

Part of her mind was absolutely convinced that she was insane. She'd gone through all of this because she had a crush on  _Gillian Beilschmidt_. This was insane on so many levels. First off—and she'd struggled with this ever since she'd first realized that she was falling for the enthusiastic, troublemaking albino—Gillian happened to be a girl. A girl who had a tendency to act like a guy and hang out with guys all of the time, but a girl nonetheless.

She wasn't sure how her family would react once they found out about this. She knew that her mother wouldn't mind. She often expressed her distaste for people who would harass others for their orientation. But her father had never said anything about it…and she had the feeling that Ally would freak out about her dating anyone, regardless of gender.

Still, she'd eventually managed to come to terms with that aspect of herself and now was wondering more about the fact that she'd chosen  _Gillian_.

Gillian was just about as different from her as you could get. Whereas she was mousy and unnoticeable—constantly getting mistaken for her sister if people even bothered to see her—Gillian was always in the spotlight. Seemingly without trying. She was beautiful and talented and full of life… And amazing… And constantly in trouble. Whereas Mattie had never done anything to upset anyone in authority—she always did her homework on time, never spoke out of turn… Gillian was constantly in detention. She fell asleep in class, had led the entire campus in a protest against the female's uniform a couple years ago. And of course, as no one could forget, she'd once blown up a toilet for no better reason than to see what would happen.

But she was always a brilliant leader and was one of the few people in the school who had actually taken the time to learn her name. And Mattie had fallen madly for her.

And today was supposed to have been the day that she finally went right up to Gillian and confessed her feelings. Everything had been going perfectly.

And then Ally had to ruin it.

Ally had to ruin everything!

She almost felt like crying. This wasn't fair! Why was Ally even here? She couldn't go up to Gill now that her sister was here.

Gillian had returned to the court with the same cocky stride that she'd held when she exited. Although Mattie could immediately tell that the last match had affected her.

Gill didn't show her weaknesses very often. It would take someone who was very good at observing to notice when she was starting to tire. And that was something that Mattie was definitely good at. Most of the time all that she got to do was observe, after all.

She could definitely tell that Gillian was feeling tired, just by the way she moved and the slight flickers of distraction that passed through her eyes.

This was so not fair! Why was her sister doing this? Had she somehow found out about her plan? She'd been really careful to be quiet when she was practicing her speech and it's not like Kumajiro could tell on her. Wait…what if she'd snuck into her room and read her diary again? That would be just like her! Stupid nosy big sisters!

Mattie immediately began to plot her revenge… Her sister was definitely going to pay for this.

~.~.~

Gillian grinned brightly as she tossed the tennis ball between her hands, her eyes slowly searching the crowds. Feliciana was waving madly at her from her seat on Ludwig's lap. She winked at him and received a pretty awesome blush in return. Antonio was M.I.A., although when she looked closer, she could see him attempting to surreptitiously make his way to the older Vargas girl. He'd probably have a black eye by the end of the game then. And Francis was simultaneously flirting with a blonde boy on his right side, who was acting rather interested, and a brunette girl on his left, who was attempting to remain disinterested but was failing rather spectacularly.

And then off away from the others was Mattea.

She wasn't sure why the girl had started attending her matches, but she'd noticed a while ago that whenever she was playing, she could almost bet her life on the fact that Mattie would be somewhere in the crowd, attempting to be as unnoticeable as possible.

She'd actually been planning on going to talk to her after her last match, but that path had been rather abruptly uprooted by Ally.

"Beilschmidt," Ally suddenly remarked in a decidedly hero v. evil villain way.

"Jones," she responded in kind, bouncing the ball once against the court.

"I am going to defeat you, Gillian Beilschmidt!" Ally suddenly exclaimed, startling the onlookers into silence. She threw her arm holding the racket into the air and posed for a few moments, as if expecting pictures or something. Gill could hear Arthur groaning all the way from over here. "And in the process, I shall figure out your evil plan to hypnotize my little sister!"

"Huh?" Where had that come from?

Arthur yelled at her. "Al, you bloody git! What are you talking about?"

Ally looked rather happy to have everyone's attention on her. Some of the teachers were not so happy and were attempting to move through the crowds to grab her.

"It's quite simple! I saw through your evil albino plan to brainwash my little sister so she'll become obsessed with tennis. She's your guinea pig since nobody would notice your evil work because she's boring." She continued for a few more minutes, outlining something that sounded suspiciously familiar.

"Hey, wait, isn't this from that movie?"

Ally paused mid-word and looked slightly guilty. "N—no."

"Yeah it is! The one with the blue-green aliens with all the tentacles!" Gillian felt rather proud of herself for recognizing the plot line. It'd been on TV at like three in the morning last Saturday. Ludwig had tried to stop her from watching it, but she'd just threatened to show Lovina a picture of him and Feliciana in a compromising position if he said anything. Not that he'd actually been doing anything, as he'd actually been attempting to help her up after she fell, but it definitely didn't look innocent. Particularly if you happened to be a bad-tempered overprotective older sister…

Ally and Gillian had stopped paying any attention to the crowds watching them long ago, most of whom were looking rather confused and trying to figure out what had just happened. The teacher who vaguely looked like a weasel had managed to make her way to the court now and was looking as if she were about to explode with the force of a nuclear reactor.

"Girls!"

Ally shook her head at Gill's remark and crossed her arms over her chest. "It was not! That one was the one with that villain with the big ears and the bad Beatles' haircut."

"Don't insult the Beatles!" Arthur exclaimed before realizing that he was getting involved in a rather public argument between his best friend and Gillian Beilschmidt… He shrunk back slightly at the glares he received from the other teachers. Why was he friends with Al again? He could be working on a paper right now…

"The one with the evil albino guy totally had the tentacle things. Remember? Cuz one of them killed that blonde with the annoying voice."

Ally paused to consider this. "Which one? There are lots of blondes with annoying voices in those movies."

"The one with the earrings that looked like purple carrots."

And then suddenly the weasel-resembling teacher had grabbed each of the girl's arms with claw-like nails and was dragging them out off of the court. "Honestly, I have never… You two… Detention for both of you!"

Gill sighed. "But I already have detention til the end of next month."

"But I was saving my sister from the evil albino!"

Arthur and Mattie, although standing on opposite ends of the tennis court, managed to pull off a perfectly synchronized facepalm.

_And this is the idiot I'm in love with?_

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! So it was requested by a few different people that I cross-post my Pleasantville series onto Ao3 for purposes of downloading. So, I shall begin doing so now. :) 
> 
> An introduction for any new readers. This series began in the beginning of 2010 and has been going on since then. It initially started with a fic called "And It's Supposed to be the Day of Love" and now consists of 15 separate fics. Woohoo!! So it'll take me some time to post them all over here. xD They were originally published under the name of Black.Rose.Authoress (which is my preferred penname, but this site didn't like my dots) over on fanfiction.net.
> 
> A thing I'd like to make note of is that since this series has been developing for more than 4 years now (and I initially hadn't planned on it being a series) is that the canon has changed drastically from the original stories to the later stories. I will still post the original stories here, but do be aware that for any contradictions, whatever was stated later is what is actually accurate. xD


End file.
